This invention relates generally to golf equipment and, in particular, to golf bags.
Golf bags with stands are well known in the art. One popular golf bag with a stand is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,235 to Solheim et al. The golf bag disclosed in the Solheim patent comprises a lightweight fabric body with rigid members at the top and bottom ends. The rigid members are connected by a rigid spine that extends longitudinally of the body. Because the spine supports only one side of the body, the diametrically opposed side of the body remains at least partially collapsible. It is this characteristic that is employed to operate the golf bag stand which is mounted on the partially collapsible side of the body and includes a pair of legs. The upper ends of the legs are pivotally attached to the rigid member at the top end of the body. An actuator rod of generally U-shaped configuration is attached to the rigid member at the bottom end of the body so that the free ends of the actuator rod may be attached to the legs at points between the upper and lower ends of the legs.
Whenever the golf bag is in its normal position, i.e., in the form of a right circular cylinder, such as when being carried, the distance between the top and bottom ends of the body will be at a maximum. This causes the legs to be retracted and held firmly against the side of the body so that the legs do not interfere with any normal activities of the golfer carrying the golf bag.
When the golfer sets the golf bag down, the simple and natural movement of resting the bag on its bottom end and leaning it over slightly automatically moves the legs of the stand into an extended position as the partially collapsible side of the golf bag collapses. As the partially collapsible side of the body collapses, the pleats formed in the light weight fabric generally fold neatly and do not interfere with the contents of the golf bag, however, occasionally the pleats will fold inward and bind against the grips of the golf clubs carried in the golf bag, thereby making their removal inconvenient. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a means of reinforcing the partially collapsible side of the body to prevent the pleats from folding inward while preserving the advantageous partially collapsible characteristics of the body.